Aside From Coins, Do You Have Any Other Hobbies?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Aethelred, Jan 28, 2017.

  1. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Been a while since I've made any jewelry. Most of my tools and hobby equipment are still in storage after moving but I got out a few things and starting working on some chains and such. The chain I'm holding was made over the last few days, starting from 18g 14k gold filled wire because that's what I had on hand. I'd love to make the same chain in 24k but can't justify the expense for such a whim-- it would take ~3.2 ozt (or more) for a 46 cm necklace. Other chains in the picture are either fine silver or .935 silver, plus one 24k chain of a rather experimental construction.

    JewleryInProgress-16Aug2021.jpg

    I do a little bit of traditional jewelrysmithing, mostly fabrication and some stone setting. Making chains is soothing. The repetition helps clear a cluttered mind :). The necklace I'm holding is ~51 cm long, 5 mm wide, and contains ~350 links, each made by hand and linked one at a time.

    I don't even wear jewelry regularly... I just love making things :D.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2021
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  3. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    Absolutely beautiful workmanship.
     
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  4. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Thank you, Mr. Swimmer :D

    I enjoy your foodie thread. Looks like you exercise creativity in the kitchen :).
     
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  5. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    Thank you. I do enjoy kitchen creativity. However, my true passion lies in construction. I was a home builder before retirement. I like to transform raw land into eye appealing enjoyment.

    Here's our backyard before and after. We started June '20 and finished May '21. A long, arduous and nerve wracking project, but worth it in the end.

    Before (the back of the house was a severe slope as seen to the left in this picture):

    20200114_140016.jpg

    After:

    IMG_20210707_180429981.jpg


    IMG_20210707_180407689.jpg
     
  6. robinjojo

    robinjojo Well-Known Member

    Lovely workmanship! Very nice.
     
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  7. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    Beautiful!
     
    TIF likes this.
  8. PassthePuck

    PassthePuck Well-Known Member

    Contrails left by jets flying out of Vegas!

    With A New Day.JPG
     
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  9. JoIke

    JoIke Active Member

    @PassthePuck

    Now that's absolutely stunning!

    Best photo I ever took was early-morning at a flea market some years back...

    IMG_3209-001.jpg
     
  10. JoIke

    JoIke Active Member

    Mine can't even compare to your latest post. Just stunning!
     
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  11. PassthePuck

    PassthePuck Well-Known Member

    Thank you, you are so kind. Here's what I do if you are interested.
    First, I use a tripod.
    Second, I have a Canon Rebel with a Star Filter that's 15 years old.
    Third, I set the thumbwheel to A-DEP. I think this stands for Auto Depth.
    Fourth, I use the 1/3 method where I place the subject 1/3 in the frame, both horizontal and vertical.
    Fifth, then I take 5 separate photos with the following meter gauge settings. (+2,+1, 0, -1,-2)
    Sixth, and last, I use software to combine all 5 exposures into one shot.

    I use to do only three shots, but I found that it doesn't provide the detail I want. When I take 5 exposures, it allows me greater control over the detail.

    2017Nov27 The Four Seasons Resort.JPG
     
  12. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    My other hobby is astronomy. I am an Amateur Affiliate member the AAS and several other clubs, including Astronomers Without Borders. I serve on an AAS committee for professional-amateur collaboration and I edit a monthly column for the History of Astronomy Division. My observing programs are modest, but ahead of changing jobs and taking a pay cut, I put some investment into my future viewing. I am still building the equipment set--I need a finder and a tripod--but so far...

    Enerdyne Nagler 7 mm - 5 copy.jpeg
    Nagler is famous as a top-tier engineering firm dedicated to eyepieces. Most of their products cost what I have paid for a telescope. However, I found this on the shelf of a retail store (electronically, not in person). It was inventoried in 2014. It is two generations old in terms of engineering. I was able to buy it for about a third of the price of a current model. It is a wide view 82 degrees. The 7mm focal length with my new 115-mm (4.5-inch) apochromatic f/7 refractor will deliver about 115X. (Magnification is not everything, sometimes not much of anything, but in this case, the wide view will be fine.)

    Not-meade meade 14 mm 82 degree waterproof.png
    This is nominally a Meade, but it does not have all of the Meade markings. It was on close-out as a warehouse left-over. Also 82 degrees field of view and waterproof. It was a steal of a deal. 14mm will be about 57.5X.

    AT 115MM APO (L).jpg
    What they will be used with is an apochromatic triplet refractor. It has three lenses up front tuned to reduce aberration to near zero. The aperture is modest (again, 115 mm), but the quality glass promises uncompromised viewing -- once I get to an uncompromised viewing site. I live in the city.
    advert image 1 copy.jpg
    I also bought a lot of hard work with a pretty face: an 8-inch Newtonian reflector that was factory reconditioned after a return. At 22 lbs = 10 kg it is an easy carry for me. But it is heavier than the rating of my current tripod and it and the 115 mm refractor will get a new mount and stand. So, far, everyone is out-of-stock on just about everything. The supply chain is still recovering from Covid.

    The price was hard to pass up, 55% of retail. Then, after I pulled the trigger, I began building my documentation flle and discovered that the very (very) short focal length makes this f/3.9 telescope difficult to collimate. My first rough guess at alignment verified that: the stars are lots of little lines and not many circles. So, I spent a sizable fraction of the cost on collimation equipment and a standard handbook:
    Star Testing Suiter (cover)(s) copy.jpeg

    The thing is that back in February, I finally got tired of trying to collimate my Celestron 130 -- my first adult scope from 2014 -- and I donated it to the Goodwill along with the collimation tool I bought. I thought that I was dedicated to refractors. Like numismatics, astronomy has its dark side.
    ======================
    Michael E. Marotta
    Member AAS BAA SAS SPA ASP ALPO AWB
    =======================
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2021
  13. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    I would venture a guess that great skies aren't very far off living in Texas. Nice setup. Do you do any astrophotography?
     
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  14. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    (drool, drool, drool)

    With age, I'm realizing that it's probably a good thing that I live in a spot with dreadful skies (maybe low Bortle 6 when I moved here, probably high Bortle 7 now courtesy of the mall and maze of car dealerships that went in just south of us). If I'd lived within easy reach of dark skies, I'd have even more gear to trip over, and it would be bigger gear, and more work to maintain. Not to mention the money I wouldn't have.
     
  15. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    Both coin collecting and hiking go well together with photography. I have only dabbled in the latter, but there have been some lucky moments.

    Fannaråken screen.jpeg P6100851.jpg
     
  16. kaparthy

    kaparthy Well-Known Member

    I do as much observing as a I can, but I am modest in my endeavors. If I can find a new (to me) binary, I am happy for the night. Right now, Jupiter and Saturn are prominent, as is Sagittarius-Scorpius where many clusters are.

    And right now, I am enrolled in an online class in astrophysics. The math is algebra. So, that's not too bad, and I find out more about what I am looking at, understanding how and why we have these theories. It's like reading the history supporting the numismatics.

    I have taken some snapshots of the Moon with my cellphone. I have a NEXyz attachment ($59.95) which is far better than the so-called "cell phone attachments" that come with most beginner scopes: a flat oval plastic plate with an elastic band. But the process still takes some finesse and I am really not adroit at eye-hand tasks. Nothing else has come out, not even the Sun with a sun filter.

    03 Jan 2020 E 1 (3)e2 tooled more.jpg

    It is a hobby, and just like numismatics, it consumes whatever you want to spend on it. In fact, in terms of collecting, I read a thread on board about eyepieces we've collected and no longer use. ("Oh, you cannot have enough eyepieces!") Some people collect classic gear, also, high-grade consumer stuff from the 1960s is popular. People like to read about it, even if they do not buy it themselves: lots of <hearts> for posting.

    And just like here, we have bibliomaniacs who collect books and other related materials.

    And the Astronomical League is all about observing programs: all 110 Messier Objects, how many moons, how many asteroids,... They give certificates and pins for completing projects. And for that matter, I "collect" binary stars. I am happy to find them accidentally. I started by searching for them based on star charts. Now and then if I am looking for something else and I see a binary, I note it and look it up. And many nights, I revisit my finds, just like flipping through that blue box of slabs or whatever.

    Mostly, however, I record. I try to be as exact and precise as a I can in recording what I see.
    Mizar 19 March 2021 (original 1).jpeg
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2021
  17. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

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  18. PassthePuck

    PassthePuck Well-Known Member

    Thank you for the kind words!
     
  19. JoIke

    JoIke Active Member

    As you can see from most of my post here, the Asian Arts is my main collection strongpoint...............and the hits keep coming this year. 2021 is turning into one of my best.

    When this tiny (3-1/2 in.) antique "nightlight" hit the block, it was of very little interest to buyers, especially given the "auctioneer" misidentified it. :D

    What it actually is..............is a 19th C. opium lamp (base only, less the glass globe as seen in the last image below) converted into a nightlight (sometime in the early-20th C. a common practice for older objects to appeal to Western buyers visiting Asia at that time) using 17th C. - 19th C. hardstones....................with the main attraction on this piece being the translucent white jade Bi-Disc. This Disc stone is of very high quality and value and highly sought-after by collectors in the trade.

    IMG_1845-001.jpg IMG_1846-001.jpg GL001.jpg
     
  20. JoIke

    JoIke Active Member

    After a bit of doctoring, I was successful in extracting the 17th/18th C. diamond in the rough. A lite bath and brush, she's now ready to showoff the beauty of both her sides.

    Unfortunately, during the doctoring process, both the 19th C. base and bunny became sacrificial lambs.:( In the end, well worth it!;)

    IMG_1853-001.jpg IMG_1854-001.jpg
     
  21. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    RIP bunny. It was kinda cute. :(
     
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